Lonard leads lacklustre field

LOCAL knowledge, they say, is essential if a traditional links course is to be conquered.

Try telling that to Peter Lonard, the 37-year-old from Sydney, who arrived here barely in time to walk nine holes of the Baltray links on Wednesday night before tackling the course "blind" on Thursday morning.

He did have his lucky moments since the Nissan Irish Open began but he has held his head in impressive fashion to shoot an eight under par 64 on Thursday and follow up yesterday with a solid 70.

And so he is still two clear of the field going into the final 36 holes of a tournament bursting with potential but which has yet to really catch fire.

Neither Lonard nor anybody else has been able to run away from the field and those within six or seven shots going into the weekend will fancy their chances of success on Sunday.

Lonard's closest rivals are the South African James Kingston and Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard.

The southern hemisphere is well represented near the top of the leaderboard with Lonard's compatriot Brett Rumford one of five players on seven under.

Yesterday's attendance of 14,040 was down on the figures for the previous three years. However, the potential is there for a cracking weekend with a decent weather forecast and the hope that at last, one of the home contingent might keep the title on Irish soil for the first time in 22 years.

For now however, Lonard is the one they have to catch and no praise can be too high for a man with such scant knowledge of the course and whose ball striking has been more than a little suspect on occasions.

He said the course was "a little tougher with the wind from a different direction. A lot of the approach shots played into a cross wind which made it a serious test."

He was also critical of his own performance. "I was in perfect position on the third to hit it close and instead hit a stinking nine iron up in the wind and at the par three 5th where I lost it on the breeze again."

So far, so good for Lonard. Even he is unsure.

James Kingston is a 38 year-old from Rustenburg, South Africa and has yet to win on this side of the world. The way things are going for him between the 2nd and 5th, you suspect he would happily transport them back home. He birdied all five holes yesterday and mused: "I must have a love affair with them. You have three par fives, a shortish par four and quite a tricky par three. I hit great iron shots at four and five and powerful tee shots and good seconds onto the par fives and two putted. I hope they serve me as well over the next two days."

Stephen Gallacher arrived on the professional scene at roughly the same time as Padraig Harrington with great expectations in his native Scotland. He is now a millionaire but still awaits his first tournament success in Europe, his best finish being a share of second in the Great North Open in 2001.

He has had opportunities, so how deep has the frustration been? "You try not to think about it," he reasoned. "You try to get on with it, learn from the experiences. You are bound to get one sooner or later. I don't feel any pressure from being Bernard's nephew. It has never bothered me."

It so happens that Bernard's daughter, the eye-catching Kirsty, is also celebrity as a presenter on Sky Sports.

"I get more fame through that one, especially now she is back on the telly," Stephen quipped. "But no it doesn't bother me. And I get free digs at the Volvo PGA."

Uncle Bernard, conveniently enough, lives in the plush Wentworth Estate. All of which makes for nice copy and a bit of fun. But the punters who pay their €35 admission fee through the weekend want a bit more than that. The leaderboard, with due respect to the incumbents, isn't designed to set the juices flowing.

Harrington, Lawrie and Clarke are in contention and should any or all of them make a serious run, the atmosphere and excitement at Baltray would increase a hundredfold.

It would be the ideal way of celebrating a superb golfing occasion at a wonderful golfing location.